Recent Developments in Nanomaterials for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering

Nanotechnology has provided enormous benefits to the industrial and developed world. Most fields of knowledge have been tapping, using, and applying the advantages of nanotechnology to improve systems and living standards. This cannot be said for civil engineering and construction particularly geotechnical engineering. Actually, soil mechanics have been involved with nano scale dimensions and materials for a very long time, i.e. before the term nanotechnology and nanomaterials were coined. From the basic clay structure and the water molecules which give rise to soil plasticity/cohesiveness, geotechnical engineers were exposed to these phenomena since the early days of the subject. Currently, developments in nanotechnology and nanomaterials in geotechnical engineering has been limited to its use as an improvement and clean-up materials. Recent results have shown that the use of a small amount of nanomaterials (<1% of dry weight of the original soil) have resulted in significant change and improvement in soil properties. This is important since efficient use of materials is one of the facets of sustainability related to prolonging the life of our depleting natural resources. Experiences with nano-soil, nano-clay, nano-silica, nano-alumina, nano-magnesium, carbon nanotube and nanofibers, and nano-lime will all be discussed with respect to its use in soil improvement and soil remediation.

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